A (Very) Brief History of the Imperium

A very Brief History of the Imperium 

By Dr Nullintra Barrirae

Though we know little of the earliest times of Human civilization on Amaria what we do know is that the very first Human Transplants appeared somewhere around what is now Founders Park in the Imperial Capital Nova Roma, they were made up of the Ninth Legion of old Rome, the Roanoke Colonists, several members of both the Imperial Senate, the Catholic Church and a smattering of Celtic, Pictish, Norse tribesmen and a handful of Lycanthropes of whom rapidly worked out that, to borrow a phrase, they weren't in Kansas anymore. It took even less time for them to band together to defend themselves from an Orc raiding party on its way to assault the nearby Dwarf Ironskull stronghold. The humans successfully defended themselves from the Orcs and built a fortified settlement where the Imperial Palace and Religious Quarter of the Imperial Capital now stand. This new fortress on their doorstep got the attention of the Lords of the Ironskull clan who formed a Diplomatic delegation that found more than just a Roman fortress on their doorstep, the humans had been industrious and had grown the fortress into a small town and fortress as they had made farms to feed the Legionaries, some of which had moved to using the four crop rotation which allowed for a more diverse range of foodstuffs to be grown alongside the animals more humans had brought with them, animals like cows, sheep, pigs and chickens. Little did anyone know that this was the beginning of the Kingdom of Rome.

The Kingdom 0-3159 KC (King's Calendar).

The Dwarf Diplomats sat with the new race's governing body and hashed out a deal, the Humans had limited industry and needed weapons to defend against Orc raiding parties and Waaghs. The Dwarves needed food as they were not the best farmers admittedly and humans were already farming four times the crops in half the land Dwarves used. The Human government agreed to the deal and handed over a selection of weapons they needed en mass, cannons, muskets and bayonets for now with options on more advanced weapons when the designs were made or brought to Amaria by future arrivals. While they would spread and take over the surface either side of the inland sea and river turning it into fortified farmland. 

During this first expansion the new Kingdom met their first Elves, the Wood Elves or as they referred to themselves Tira en' i' ndor or Guards of the Land, their first meeting was a confused and somewhat tense affair. Sparked by a child collecting firewood in an unfamiliar wood the child was held by the Wood Elves until a mediator showed up and talked calmly to the Wood's Matron who agreed to let the child go and supplied the new settlement with the Wood they needed to heat their homes and build furniture and building frames in return the settlementwould supply the Wood Elves with root vegetables and metal tools from the Blacksmiths. This was the first time we would see this mediator in the Imperial records. Her name is Niamh O'connor and is the first Vampire, she made her first coven around this time and quietly slipped into the shadows of history.

The Kingdom of Rome rolled along relatively smoothly with only the odd war of succession and Orc Raid to upset the apple cart for over three thousand years, until the fall of the Kuestermann dynasty with the rather quiet death of the last king Dietmund. Everyone was expecting the usual war of succession but instead Niamh O'connor suggested in her calm authority that it was time for something new, a Democratic Republic along the lines of the American Representative Republic. She would keep things ticking over while the greatest political minds sorted out the new Constitution and voting system.

The Republic 0-2025 Republic Calendar (3160-5185 KC)

The great minds took less than a year to sort out the new Republican system, they just imported the American Republic lock stock and barrel and went from there. Keeping the two term limit of post Franklin Delenor Roosevelt, and the first ten amendments with an anti Slavery clause tacked onto the first amendment. Not that anyone owned slaves but they thought it prudent to have it there just in case, this less restrictive system allowed for greater expansion and trade with the Sea Elves in the new City of Grey Haven. Niamh also negotiated a new trade agreement with the Ironskull clan who readily accepted as it also came with designs for steam ships and new cap lock rifles. In return the Republic received gold, Silver and copper to make into Coins for trade on the Surface with traders from other nations, up until the Republic the Kingdom had been using Barter in lieu of coinage. How they managed that was a mystery to everyone but somehow they did.

The Republic also brought advances in technology that the Republic could make on their own, the first Magic Mirrors appeared around 500 RC as did the discovery of Aether Crystals though it took until the early Imperial years for their usages to be codified leading to an information revolution on the scale of the Solid State and Internet Revolutions of Earth in the second half of the Twentieth century. Roughly around the year 1098 the ruins of Ilythiiri civilization were discovered by the Third Legion alongside a handful of imaciated survivors of the environmental collapse of their subsurface refuges, they had retreated underground during the fall of the Eldar Hegemony due to the massive advantage in both manpower and technology their enemies had. Their return to the surface also garnered the attention of a nearby Orc tribe who upon seeing easy targets dripping in expensive jewellery and fine clothes decided to take their chances, the Third Legion however, decided to defend the Ilythiiri under Humanitarian grounds. This impasse sparked off nearly two centuries of on and off warfare called the Orc Wars, every so often a singularity charismatic Orc would unite as many tribes as possible and declare war on the Republic earning the title of War Boss. The Republic would allow the Orcs free reign exhausting themselves in raids on empty towns, only to be decimated in Culodden style battles where the Orc horde would charge at the massed ranks of the Legions assigned to that area and be cut down by volley fire and bayonets. Later, a representative of the Republic would approach the now starving tribe and offer aid in return for their joining the Republic. This tactic had a two fold effect, it increased both the intelligence of the Orc population. Reducing their propensity towards being manipulated by charismatic leaders and extending their average lifespan from no more than forty years to eighty years on average due to better medicine and surgery. It also reduced the available tribes for the next War Boss to recruit.

At the same time as the Orc Wars the Ilythiiri were integrating themselves into the Republic and finding flaws in it, one being a lack of understanding of Magic. They soon went about the task of teaching humans Magic, they found that the Magic they knew was not as strong with humans as it was with them. It was rapidly worked out that their High Magic was incompatible with the Roman mind so they looked for other ways to use magic, which they did with the aid of a popular pass time. The Table Top Role Play Games of Dungeons and Dragons and Pathfinder First Edition, they worked out how to translate the hard Magic system from those games into reality. It wasn’t easy as some of the listed ingredients or materials needed either didn't exist or were unethical to aquire so work arounds had to be sought out for each nonexistent and unethical material. This took time but the time was worth it, the range of spells in those games spell lists was larger and had greater utility than the High Magic they knew.

By 1190 the Orc Wars were essentially done only a few tribes held out under the leadership of the last War Boss Organ Frostfury, a big Northern Orc of the Icewalker tribe, he had united the last dozen tribes under his command and led them south. Only to be met by a single Red headed woman, she spoke with a soft Irish accent and called out Organ Frostfury challenging him to a one on one duel. The terms she offered were simple if he won, the Imperium would leave them be to live as they had for centuries. However, if she won they would lay down their weapons and join the Republic as citizens and enjoy the benefits of civilization including regular food, health care, warm homes and so on. The War Boss consulted with his council who couldn't see how he could lose, especially if they were to give her one of their weapons. The Organ agreed, tossing her one of their Choppaz expecting her to not be able to even lift it. The woman lifted it easily, this really should have sent alarm bells ringing telling them that something wasn't right about this waif of a woman. But it was a matter of honour now and Organ had to fight, so fight he did, his first and only move was to charge at her screaming his war cry. Her move was to sidestep his charge and decapitate him, this ended the Orc Wars as per their agreement.

By 1250 RC the Republic was again embroiled in a war, this time it was with the High Elves. All because of the Republic's sheltering of the Ilythiiri, the High Elves had prepared well for their fight with the Republic Legions with one slight miscalculation. The Legions now had Orcs, Field Artillery based on the French 75mm Model 1897 quick firing gun and repeating Rifles based on the best parts of the British Short Magazine Lee-Enfield (SMLE for short) and the German Mauser KAR 98 firing the common .303 rifle cartridges along with 2 inch Mortars for close support. So while the Elves were in massed ranks, the Republic were fighting in more fluid skirmishing formations and each ten man unit  or Contuburnam had ten times the firepower per magazine than the High Elves were expecting plus at least two of them were also trained Battle Mages and all of them knew how to use healing magic. So while the High Elves were massing in their admittedly strong formations, the Republic would be dropping artillery onto those formations breaking them up for the Infantry to cut down. This war lasted for six years before their Queen Irann Laelithar came to the negotiating table for peace talks, again the Republic would be magnanimous in victory offering the High Elves access to their advanced weapons, health care and so on. While the Republic would take the burden of protecting the High Elves as they did the Orcs and Ilythiiri. The next eight hundred years were a very quiet time marked only by scandal and corruption before the Republic would finally fall at the hands and corruption of President Merovingian who overstepped his Constitutional boundaries sparking a Civil War.

The Civil War was a period of absolute chaos best explained in a separate book entirely with maps and after action reports, preferably written by an expert in the matter of military history rather than a social historian like myself. But suffice to say it lasted for a decade of upheaval and bloodshed that gave rose to the Imperium Romanum.

The Imperium 0-present (5665 Imperial Calendar) (5195-10195 KC)

The Imperium was born from the ashes of the Republic and immediately set about fixing the mess by first instituting the Inquisition, the hunting dogs and retribution of the Imperium upon the Politicians that failed their constituents through their corruption and greed. Their leadership was at first a council, a public safety council prone to infighting which slowed everything down to a crael which allowed many of the politicians accused of starting the war to escape justice through either fleeing the country or death. This annoyed both the First Emperor Septim and his chief advisor the Banríon so they created the role of Lord Inquisitor and installed a nobody named Vincent Valentine as the First Lord Inquisitor and through his aggressive bullying and near tyrannical behaviour, so necessary in those early decades, whipped the Inquisition into shape and created a new police force. At the same time they worked to create a new Constitution the Lex Imperialis, a simple set of laws for both the people and the government to be put into a single volume available to everyone. This Lex Imperialis is explained in the current Lord Inquisitor’s guide On Imperial Society so I will not go into detail about it here, but suffice to say it was a complete game changer. On seeing the results of appointing a Vampire to be in charge of vital Imperial infrastructure Emperor Septim asked the Banríon to appoint those she knew were capable and flexible into various vital roles of Imperial Government, which she did, the result was a rapid post war regeneration and subsequent stable growth without the successive boom and busts of the purely human led Republic. Emperor Septim also brought in the none human members into the government which was renamed the Elector Council in order to know and hear their views and address their needs as members of imperial society. The years following Emperor Septim's reign were ones of amazing growth and learning, the first Imperial colleges of magic were formed and campuses built upon the ruins of the old universities that burned in the early days of the Civil War, the elven cities were rebuilt, more humans from Earth arrived and were integrated into the Imperium where they added their knowledge to that of the Imperium some of whom noticed the advanced ages of the human population, for example by 2020 AD earth calendar the average age of mortality in Europe and North America ranged between 80 to 100 years old, by 2020 IC the average age of mortality in the Imperium ranged from 100 to 120 years old and by 5665 the average Imperial age of death is between 150 to 200 years and is expected to rise again by 5700 IC. 

Around 2000 IC there was a spate of Slave Raids from the Eastern border, this was put down by the First Lord Inquisitor with extreme prejudice freeing those slaves and also resulted in the Imperial Decree on Slavery which was folded into later versions of the Lex Imperialis (3rd edition onwards) as was the 2nd Amendment revised into a nationwide constitutional open carry law which had the strange side effect of making weapons, especially firearms, into a fashion statement. There was fearful speculation that the Imperium would be consumed by constant gun battles, which the first Lord Inquisitor scoffed at with the line. "If everyone is a Super then nobody is." This confused many people until the crime figures came out the following year showing a marked decline in muggings, rapes, and other petty street crimes, it was clear to all that the first Lord Inquisitor had changed the game by allowing the people to defend themselves.

The following centuries were ones of quiet stability and growth within the isolationist Imperium, with only the odd assassination of emperors and nobles to break things up. In the east the anti-slavery campaign carried on without fanfare as the Lord Inquisitor’s family life slowly came to light. At first it was little more than whispers of rumours that he was abusive to his wife Marisol over time those whispers became rumours of his violent behaviour until by 4500 IC it was out in the open and the Empress of the time Empress Justicia annulled the marriage awarding now Grand Matron Marisol Valentine the role of Head of House Valentine and half of the Lord Inquisitor’s substantial fortune. He moved to and improved the venerable fortress of Invicta and improved its defences to a ridiculous extent. This took him until 5000 IC where he finally snapped and went against his Mother the Banríon on multiple occasions until sometime in 5100 Imperial Calendar she violently killed him in her personal Blood Council.

Until 5650 things were mostly quiet, the Police sadly became a problem without the firm hand of the Lord Inquisitor at the helm of the Inquisition. Falling into corruption and disorder over the course of five hundred years, nothing could be done about this as the dead Lord Inquisitor had laid out in his will that his role was to go to his Brother Ahab when he arrived in 5650. How he knew when his Brother would arrive is a mystery, one I have made it my personal mission to clear up. Suffice to say that in February of 5650 Ahab Leonidas Valentine did arrive and after a change of name as per the Lex Familias (another law the Lord Inquisitor covers in his contribution) took over the role of Lord Inquisitor and set about fixing the mess of the Imperial Police force as soon as the new Empress Catherine LaFfey had ascended to the throne. His first task was to rehire those fired for calling out the corruption of the Police as his first Inquisition team, tasking them to root out, arrest and try the chiefs of police for gross misconduct and corruption. At the same time the Lord Inquisitor rebuilt the Inquisition and Police Force into a two tier system similar to the FBI and Police of America but without the realpolitik of either. He first built a network of Vampire chiefs to run the Police as regular foot patrols, for crime prevention, petty crime, crowd control and community service. While the Inquisition did the investigations of the more sensitive crimes, murder, theft, political incitement and Sedition and cult/serial killings. This upset the criminal fraternity no end, they were making plans to kill the Lord Inquisitor and his wife when he conducted a raid on the Brewers Gang using the new E100 Tanks he had acquired for his Legions as Field Marshal of the Interior. Such heavy handed tactics put the fear of the goddesses into the various gangs of the Imperium, telling them in no uncertain terms what they would find out if they fucked around. This also gave the average Imperial citizen a sense of safety they had lost in the previous five centuries.

Jumping back a bit, Empress Catherine LaFfey had succeeded her father Emperor LaFfey due to the mysterious loss of her brother who had tried to deliver Humanitarian Aid to the collapsing empire of Qin, her first act was to officially install the current Lord Inquisitor into his office and after the execution of a Lord Betruger marry her daughter to him since she needed at least one other ally in the Imperial court. Even though her hands were tied with the Imperial court appointments, the majority being selections of the chief advisor the Banríon, the following decade of almost astronomical growth and the welfare state based on the British National Insurance and Allied Services Report 1941 brought in by the Lord Inquisitor made the lives of the bottom of the Plebeian class far more manageable than in previous years and secured her support in the largest community in the Imperium giving her a much firmer base than any Emperor or Empress in Imperial history.

What the future holds under the new regime no one knows, except the gods and they're keeping quiet, but with the recent civil war in Khemet and the Imperium’s involvement on the side of Queen Neferata we can say that the Imperium Romanum will become a major player in international politics if not a Superpower.

About the Author

Nullintra Barrirae is the Matron Mother of House Barrirae and Doctor of Imperial History at the Scholar Progenitor in Nova Roma, she splits her time between her work at the Scholar and her family.